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Re: women's name after marriage

Originally Posted by SoothingDave

In the US, a state-issued driver's license is the most common form of ID. And yes, if a woman chooses to change her name after getting married she has to notify various entities that she has done so. These include the post office, credit cards/banks, and the state driver's license bureau.

Re: women's name after marriage

I explained the situation in Britain in post #6: " Of course, if we wish to be known by the name we have chosen, then we need to inform those people we wish to use that name of our decision."

Thank, but my question is: "Is it a formal process?" Like something SoothingDave said, you'd notify the post office, credit cards, driving licence bureau, etc?
And if you change your name so you have to notify all of them so you wouldn't have more than one name in different licences. Am I right?

Re: women's name after marriage

Originally Posted by atabitaraf

Thank, but my question is: "Is it a formal process?" Like something SoothingDave said, you'd notify the post office, credit cards, driving licence bureau, etc?
And if you change your name so you have to notify all of them so you wouldn't have more than one name in different licences. Am I right?

You don't have to notify anybody, but they will continue to use your former name if you don't. You can't have different names in different driving licences, because you can hold only one valid licence.

I made a minor change to my name once. I informed most people but never got round to informing the driving licence authority.This means that my passport, International Certificate of Competence (Sailing) and various other documents show one name, and my driving licence shows a slightly different one. This is perfectly legal - though it has occasionally caused problems when I have rented a car in some countries. I'll do something about it one day.

Re: women's name after marriage

There is no obligation for a woman to change her surname after marriage in the UK. Getting married doesn't change her name. Getting married gives her the option to change her surname.

If a woman chooses to change her name, it is probably more practical for her to change it on all official documentation, but it is not obligatory to do so.

For example, if she chooses to change her surname, she can send her current passport (in her maiden name) to the passport office along with her marriage certificate and an application form. She will then receive a new passport showing her married name.
If she chooses to change her surname on her driving licence, she does the same thing - she sends her current driving licence, an application form and [a copy of] her marriage certificate to DVLA (the licensing authority) and they will issue a new licence with her married name.
Most official changes must be made by the individual woman by writing to the relevant authority (bank, tax office etc) and enclosing a copy of her marriage certificate.

These days, quite a lot of people choose to change their name for the private life, but not for their work life. If you have worked for a company for several years, and everyone knows you as Julie Smith, it's practical to keep that name at work. There is no obligation to tell your employer that you are now married and you do not have to change your name at work.

Last edited by emsr2d2; 14-Feb-2013 at 13:06.

Remember - if you don't use correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing, anything you write will be incorrect.

Re: women's name after marriage

My last wife thought about joining her last name to mine, but I dissuaded her, so she kept her maiden name, "Tangled". My penultimate wife, Jane Cobb, also decided to retain her maiden name on its own.

Re: women's name after marriage

I had forgotten my antepenultimate wife (that marriage didn't last, I am happy to say). Emma Spydas also retained her maiden name, without the addition of mine. My current fiancée, Ms Werldwaid hasn't made up her mind yet.

Re: women's name after marriage

5jj, how many wives did you have in all?... I my country hardly anyone(one in lac will be my guess) marries twice. If he does, most of the time he has to endure the bother of living with both of his wives. Divorce is a rare commodity here. He(poor man of east) isn't as lucky as you are, 5jj.

I don't know how you or other moderators will react to this post, but I didn't mean to offend you or anyone else. I just felt like talking to you dear sir.

Re: women's name after marriage

You can take 5jj's "ex-wife" posts with a pinch of salt. Read them again and have a look at the maiden names he has mentioned along with his "surname". You will get a good lesson in English puns. Of course, he might have been married several times. It's not unusual at all in the UK. My uncle is on his third marriage and he's only 53.

Remember - if you don't use correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing, anything you write will be incorrect.

Re: women's name after marriage

Oh, ems, I thought these were the real names of 5jj's ex-wives. I was wondering how could 5jj name his ex-wives in this fashion, that too on public forums, but then I thought to myself, maybe it's a normal thing in the west until you dispelled my that thought by your post that he was making puns.